John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra's December, 29th gig at the Toledo Sports Arena was the fusion groups last performance with the original line up. For some reason, Elliott Sears -- the bands road manager and FOH engineer -- has repeatedly refereed to this historic Toledo date taking place on the 30th of December, not the 29th as advertised.
Does anyone know if the gig was rescheduled?

This just in (01/11/12), direct from the aforementioned Elliot Sears, Mahavishnu Orchestra road manager and sound engineer:

December 29, 1973 at the Toledo Sports Arena was the Mahavishnu Orchestra's second to last concert. The following night, December 30, 1973 was the bands last performance which was held at the Masonic Auditorium in Detroit

The following link is a list of the original Mahavishnu Orchestra's concerts taken from my itineraries and verified other sources. Although far from complete it is for the most part accurate. There are 2 listing that came from outside sources but I question their validity especially April 9, 1972 at Philharmonic Hall in New York.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Peter Criss' last concert with the kabuki-faced rockers until the 1996 reunion tour, captured on the video above during the groups 1979 Dynasty tour. One viewing and it's clear the entire band is suffering from a case of road-borne malaise. Peter's "official" departure date was May, 18th, 1980.

As Toledo's preeminent temple of arena rock worship for decades, the Sports Arena had seen it all by the time it was demolished in 2007. If the walls could talk, they'd probably say things like: "Hey burnout, quit urinating on me," and "Styx again?" or most likely, "It's a free clinic, your parents will never even know."

Let's take a look at some of the video's highlights: 0:11 Rent a Cop: "Sure the security gig doesn't pay much, but I'm making buku cash selling oregano to these suburban dopes."0:36 Tallow-necked and mustachioed security guard performing the East-Side Heimlich on a 12-year old in the name of crowd control. 0:42 Maumee High School Panther Band Jacket-REPRESENT! 0:44 Ace and Paul's lethargic windmilling ala Townshend; they know they're onstage, right? 0:52 "Cool" older kids filtering just before showtime: "Kiss suck, but it'll be a party."

Amazing photograph from the same concert by Toledo's own John Rockwood. tumbler